Hundreds Line Up to Attend Koch's NYC Funeral

NEW YORK (AP)-- An organist began playing the famed Frank Sinatra song "New York, New York" as Ed Koch's casket was carried out of a New York City synagogue to conclude the former mayor's funeral.

Thousands of mourners gave Koch's coffin a standing ovation as an honor guard of uniformed police officers walked down the center aisle and out of the Manhattan synagogue.

Koch was remembered as a devoted great-uncle and public servant by family members and politicians on Monday.

Bagpipes wailed on the street outside. Koch will be buried at the Trinity Church cemetery in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood.

His tombstone says Koch "fiercely" defended New York City - and that he "fiercely" loved its people and America.

Ed Koch was remembered as the quintessential New Yorker - an admired but tough former mayor who will be honored at his funeral by former President Bill Clinton.

At the service Monday morning at Manhattan's Temple Emanu-El, mourners heard about Koch's other fierce loyalty: Israel. The Israeli consul general spoke, along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Koch died Friday of congestive heart failure at age 88.

On Saturday, friends from Koch's weekly Greenwich Village luncheon gathering got together, two weeks after his last meal with them.